(an: listen to "kiss me again" by we are the in crowd & alex gaskarth at the second part of this chapter because it's one of the several songs mentioned and iT JUST WORKS OKAY)
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Three times. Not one, not two, but three. That's how many times Calum had come over to Michael's house this week and he had to pretend he was ill just to avoid his friends seeing each other. Melanie had stayed over at her own choice because of Michael's mother being away, visiting his grandmother. Michael wouldn't have minded, had Melanie not been moping around the house. She was draining him of the little excitement he had until he had to go back to football conditioning for the new year. "This is getting ridiculous, Melanie," Michael shakes her shoulder. "Come on, get up."
She groans and sits up, glaring at the boy in front of her. "What?" She snaps.
"You can't sit around here and hope that Calum decides to climb through the window rather than coming to the door, and he sees you." Melanie rolls her eyes, but Michael persists. "If you want to tell him so badly that you feel the same, then go do it before you miss your chance. Melanie just shakes her head. "I don't see how this is so difficult for you."
"You wanna know so badly," Melanie sighs. "Why don't you figure my heart out."
"Already did, and look where that got you." Michael smirks, remembering their kiss(es) from the party.
Melanie hadn't stopped blaming Calum for her problems, despite the fact that all she wanted to do was go up to him and give him the tightest hug she knew how. "It's his fault we made out!" was personally, Michael's favorite of the claims thus far.
"If you don't go talk to him right now, you can't stay here." Michael states.
Melanie pouts. "Why not?"
"Because people like you and Calum belong together," he sighs. "And quite frankly, I'm sick of my friends hating each other."
Melanie stares at her feet as she kicks her heels to the carpeted floor, back and forth. "I suppose you're right."
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It doesn't take long for Melanie to go home and get ready. She wants to look nice, because hey, maybe she has a chance. What Luke had said about it being silly for her to want to be with Calum was still stuck in the back of her mind. It nearly stopped her from ringing the doorbell, but alas, she saw no point in returning home, having already made the trip to Calum's house successfuly.
He once again, was home alone. Melanie found herself grateful for the matter, but also was worried with how uncomfortable the situation may become between herself and Calum. It's become dark outside, having it been just a little past nine in the evening.
She makes her way to the door quickly, wanting to get this over and done with as soon as she could. She knocks against the wooden frame three times with her knuckles before the takes the step back, out of habit. "Well, well. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"We need to talk." Melanie sharply says, immediately regretting her tone. Being rude wasn't going to help anything between her and Calum.
"I've heard that before," Calum smirks as he allows her inside. "Let's hope it ends out better this time."
"I'd be happy I'm here if I were you," Melanie sighs. "Michael's making me do this because I won't any other way."
"This has gotta be good, seeing as to what his lovely advice did for us last time." Cal closes the heavy door and smiles at the girl in front of him. "Your hair's fading." He points out.
"I know. Michael's not very good at dying any hair apart from him own, surprisingly." Melanie chuckles a bit, but remembers the reason she's standing where she is. "Stop distracting me, that's not why I'm here. I've gotta say something I've been thinking about."
"I would hope not," Calum leans against the door and crosses his arms. "It's not like Michael to downgrade his own skills, especially when it comes to his hair." Calum is dressed better than he was the last time, but it wasn't anything too special. Melanie had seen Calum in his ripped jeans and All Time Low tank a million times. Calum could say the same thing about the stupid flannel around Melanie's waist that he hated so much (in reality, Calum thought the flannel looked nice on Melanie, but he thought she always looked nice therefore his opinion on her clothing didn't really matter). "His ego is too big for that. Either way, go on."
Melanie sighs. "What you said got me thinking, about you still having feelings for me?" She scoffs. "I would be a liar to tell you that I didn't still feel something for you. "
Calum watches her carefully, taking in the details of her face. He hasn't gotten to see her in a long time, apart from the incident just a week before. "How big is the part of you that still feels something between us?"
Melanie looks up from the wooden floorboards and to a patient Calum just a few feet away. "Pretty big," she sighs. "I know that us being together right now is a long shot because you might still be getting over Mackenzie; the last thing you need is a rebound for a girl who was supposed to be your rebound."
"How would I rebound on the girl I still like with the same girl that I like?" Calum stiffles a laugh.
Melanie groans. "I don't know! God, I sound crazy," Calum signals with hisnthumb and index finger that she does, in fact, sound just a little bit crazy. "Don't you see what you do to me?"
Calum moves from the door and makes his way to the backdoor, Melanie following not far behind. "What do I do to you?" He asks.
Melanie shrugs. "I don't know. I used to get butterflies when I was around you, but I haven't seen you in forever. Being away from one of my best friends sucks, but the fact that I liked you made it worse."
Calum opens the door and Melanie walks out behind him, closing it beind her.
The pair walk to the middle of the yard. The pool next to them reflects the soft moonlight coming in through the plethora of trees surrounding the back of the yard. Calum rubs his shoulder, dragging his hand down to his elbow. The summer air had become chilly, but Calum enjoyed it.
He smiles. "It's odd to hear that from you. You're just so reserved and all with me; never to Ashton, Luke, or Michael, but always me."
Melanie watches the ripples of the water as she thinks of an answer. "If I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting to still feel like this. I don't know, I'm just so sick of denying it, you know?" She sighs, knowing that all of this may come across to Calum as her forgiving him. It's garunteed, they'll disagree. "I'm getting those butterflies again. It's been a while."
Calum nods. "Every time I'm with you my heart beats a mile a minute."
"That's not healthy."
Melanie manages to crack a smile at the expense of her own joke. Calum had always found her smile to be contagious, and this time was nothing different. "Oh, shut up."
Melanie laughs. "Make me." Calum raises and eyebrow and smirks at the girl on his left. Though it takes her a moment, Melanie's eyes widen at the realization that she's just offered Calum to kiss her. "No, oh God!" Melanie covers her face with both of her hands, laughing. "That's not what I meant!" Calum laughs and wraps an arm around Melanie's waist, pulling her closer.
"What are you-"
And with wrapping his second arm around her, Calum finally kisses her. Melanie still has her arms by her neck, which they both are finding uncomfortable. With Calum's close grasp, she nas no choice but to lay them on his semi-bare shoulders.
He pulls away from her, and smiles. Melanie takes a moment for her thoughts, but soon grins. "Did this really just happen?"
Calum nods, the two still holding each other. "I think you're more than a friend."
Melanie feels the heat rising to her cheeks, but that's the last thing she's concerned with. She smiles brightly. "Then kiss me again."
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(an: well lOOKS LIKE THAT WENT WELL BETWEEN THEM
was this chapter terribly written and super basic and predictable? yes. BUT WAS IT CUTE???
let's be real here, it's been thirty seven chapters (technically, though we're actually around 19 real chapters, not including notes) SOMETHING NEEDED TO HAPPEN.
but yes I hope you guys liked this chapter it took a few days to write.
there's like these or four songs referenced in this chapter so yeah if you guess them all then congrats!!!
I have nothing planned for this book anymore so yes of you have any suggestions, like I've said, don't hesitate to tell me!
any feedback? don't forget the character ask- I'm still accepting questions for it (and this chapter has so many to be asked let's be real).
ilysm guys thanks for 16k okay omg)